7 Guitarists You’ll Hate Me for Loving

We guitarists are kind of
bitches. Seriously—have
you taken a look at what we say
about each other online? Hell,
even many of us who are secure
or well-mannered enough to
not let internet anonymity turn
us into jerkwads are often still
thinking jerky thoughts. But I
guess that’s just how it is these
days. I mean, it’s not like you
don’t see that where guitar playing
isn’t part of the picture—although it does seem that
bassists are less prone to tearing
each other down.

I guess it all comes down
to the evolution of the whole
“guitar god” thing. As with
everything cool, someone (or in
this case, a bunch of someones)
blazes a trail, then comes the
bandwagon effect, then inevitable
burnout, formula forming,
and the numbing, beating to
death of what once ruled. Thus
began the Post Guitar God era,
which started anytime within
the past 20 years … or hasn’t
begun at all and never will,
depending on your viewpoint.

But let’s face it, there’s a difference
between what Django,
Robert, Jimmy, Jimi, Eddie,
Yngwie, and Morello (to cherry-
pick a few) did and what we
see now. Plain and simple, gone
are the days of leaving a historic
mark—of creating a singular
voice widely differentiable from
others—via the types of dexterity
and musicality used by bona
fide guitar heroes of yore.

Some would argue that a
complete mental reset is necessary—that technique, “good
tone,” and song structure are
irrelevant and that we should
just set aside preconceptions,
shut the hell up, and listen with
our hearts and more-open-than-normal minds. Many
will say you’re never a true
musician unless you master
their vague (and completely
un-rock-’n’-roll) checklist of
B.S. about various combinations
of dexterity, theory, and
tone. Some will always be in the
shredding camp, others will try
to differentiate themselves with
new combinations of technique
and technology. Others will
simply shake their heads and
say, “It’s the song, stupid.”

I just wish everyone would
chill a bit and respect each
other—if not for our music,
then just for our bloody status
as upright walkers. (Yes, I’m
an idealist. Let the mocking
commence!) While I often
somehow find myself in all of
the mindsets above, I definitely
tilt more toward the do-whatever-
the-hell-you-want side.
Guitarists are so often bashing
each other’s technique without
listening to nuance, dynamics,
chord voicings, song structure,
mood, and emotional effect.
How many more players do we
need who can melt a fretboard
on YouTube? Isn’t there some
middle ground between dexterity
and willingness to flip the
bird at convention? Isn’t true
rebelliousness and defiance of
norms what’s so sadly missing
from music these days (or at
least the music that tends to get
widespread attention)?

Here’s what I know: There
are hordes of guitarists—or,
more importantly, passionate
music makers—who never get
respect from their 6-string peers
at large for the stupid reasons
listed above. But I’ll take a lot
of these musicians over what
certain stick-in-the-mud guitarists
seem unable to get their fill
of. Here are just a few of the
guitarists I dig a whole hell of a
lot. They don’t give a crap what
other guitarists think of them,
and they’ll never get much glory
in the guitar-media universe.

Cody Votolato. Now
involved with projects such
as Jaguar Love and Waxwing,
Votolato is best known for
his explosive work with post-hardcore
crazy-asses the Blood
Brothers. Armed with a Strat
and a cranked Orange amp, he
electrified the Brothers’ dueling-
Yosemite-Sam-on-crack vocal
approach with bristling discordance,
tight-as-hell rhythm
insanity, and an ear toward
making the band’s odd-timed
rampages a cathartic thrill ride
through punky, meth-addled
Vaudeville. Must-hear tracks:
“Burn, Piano Island, Burn,”
“We Ride Skeletal Lightning”

Per Stålberg and David
Fransson. Division of Laura
Lee is probably the last band
from Gothenburg, Sweden,
you’re likely to hear about.
Though they’re often lumped in
with garage-rockers the Hives,
Stålberg and Fransson—who
favor a Fender Tele Deluxe and
Ibanez Jet King, respectively—
never get to that purposely
annoying/attention-whore level.
Their tunes are darker, brooding—
a post-punk soundtrack
for Let the Right One In (best
vampire movie of the last 30
years, for the record). They’re
not guitar heroes, but their
tones and interplay is instantly
identifiable. Must-hear tracks:
“3 Guitars,” “Black City”

Sir Richard Bishop. This
Sun City Girls experimentalist
is adept at creating mesmerizingly
ominous and/or beautiful
soundscapes with an odd air
of doom, mystery, and antiquity
using everything from an
acoustic to reverb-drenched
electrics and lap steels. Must-hear
tracks: “Hecate’s Dream,”
“Ecstasies in the Open Air”

Ed O’Brien, Jonny
Greenwood, and Thom Yorke.
Radiohead’s elusive 6-string
trio isn’t exactly unheralded,
but they’re often derided by
guitarists proper. Their ability
to warp guitars, vocals, and
other instruments with pedals
is only part of it, though.
Greenwood’s unique voicings
stem from being a bona fide
classical composer, but he’s also
committed to the avant. Perhaps
the coolest thing about these
guys is how willing they are to
set down their guitars and pick
up a new instrument that might
take a song in a new direction.
Must-hear tracks: “2+2=5,” “15
Step,” “Blow Out”

I could go on and on, but
I’d rather ask you—who are
your favorite new-order guitar
heroes?

As Premier Guitar chief content officer since January 2010, Shawn Hammond oversees all of PG’s articles, videos, audio, and social media offerings. Although he’s probably as loathe to admit his alma mater as they are to claim him, Shawn has a degree in journalism from Brigham Young University, and a long history in guitar journalism predating his tenure at PG. He’s an avowed Tele, Bigsby, and baritone fanatic, and as his Tuning Up columns regularly reveal, he’s kind of a cantankerous bastard who tends to flip the bird at convention.